Tag Archive for: sustainable

An outdated solar installation was decommissioned and recycled in a partnership between Solarcycle, PowerFlex, and Decom Solar.

US retailer Target, known for being ahead of the sustainability curve, has solar installed on nearly 550 locations or more than 25% of its stores. The company’s sustainability strategy, called Target Forward, commits the retailer to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions enterprise-wide by 2040.

According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) Solar Means Business 2022 Target is one of the top four companies for solar installed on site, which—at the time—amounted to 255 MW of capacity.

Click here to read the full article
Source: PV Magazine

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

Allan Hancock College has partnered with San Francisco-based ForeFront Power to develop a 2.4 megawatt solar energy system.

Allan Hancock College is continuing its efforts to create a more sustainable campus by installing solar panel canopies above parking lots at the college’s Santa Maria campus.

The college partnered with San Francisco-based ForeFront Power to develop a 2.4 megawatt solar energy system that contains 6,000 solar panels installed across multiple parking canopies located in parking lots 1, 2, 4, 8 and 10. The solar panel canopies will not only provide valuable shade for students, parents, faculty, staff and other visitors to campus but are also expected to save $4 million in electricity costs over the 20-year lifespan of the solar energy system.

Click here to read the full article
Source: Santa Maria Times

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

Aptera confirmed the award of the $21 million grant, which will support its Solar Mobility Manufacturing Project in California.

Solar electric vehicle startup Aptera Motors shared encouraging news today as it has been awarded a grant from the California Energy Commission (CEC) to the tune of $21 million. The grant comes as welcomed news for Aptera as it looks to reach scaled production of its namesake solar EV as one of the few startups left trying to successfully scale the sustainable technology for the masses.

While we’ve seen other solar electric vehicle startups shutter or pivot their businesses away from EV manufacturing, Aptera Motors continues to push forward with hopes of achieving what its competitors could not – scaled SEV series production.

Click here to read the full article
Source: electrek

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

Solar development can provide work opportunities in San Joaquin Valley while keeping fallowed land productive & curbing environmental risks.

California’s largest farming region faces a daunting challenge.

As farmers reduce their groundwater use under California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, the footprint of irrigated agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley will have to shrink. The Public Policy Institute of California estimates that at least 500,000 acres of farmland will likely need to come out of production over the next two decades.

Fallowing land can lead to a host of problems, including employment losses for the valley’s agricultural workers and revenue losses for landowners and local governments. It could also exacerbate issues with airborne dust in a region already suffering from some of the worst air quality in the nation. And pests and weeds could cause a nuisance for lands still in production.

Click here to read the full article
Source: The Sentinel

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

To deal with blackouts in Gaza, many switch on diesel generators, but more and more people are now turning to solar power to keep the lights on.

Blockaded by Israel since 2007, the Gaza Strip only has electricity for 12 hours per day on average – less when the conflict escalates.

So, in recent years, people across the Palestinian enclave have been turning to solar energy to power their businesses and homes.

Yasser al-Hajj, who owns a seaside fish farm and restaurant, installed solar panels six years ago.

Click here to read the full article
Source: Euronews

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

As global temperatures rise, the panels can help to conserve dwindling freshwater supplies by reducing evaporation from both plants and soil.

Next-gen solar parks that enable energy and food production as well as water conservation to work in synergy on the same plot can help to solve solar’s growing land-use issue, according to the researchers making them a reality.

“There is this big debate around using land for solar versus using it for agriculture,” said Colorado State University researcher Jennifer Bousselot. “And I just roll my eyes because you don’t have to pick. They can be combined.”

“This will be absolutely vital to the future of the energy industry,” added Richard Randle-Boggis from the University of Sheffield. “Especially somewhere like the UK, where sustainable land use is a critical challenge.”

Click here to read the full article
Source: dezeen

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

Lilypad was one of four projects funded by EGLE and the OFME to address climate, energy, and mobility challenges in the Great Lakes region through innovative maritime solutions.

The West Michigan beach town of Saugatuck is known for its historic riverfront nestled among critical dune habitat at the mouth of the Kalamazoo River.  Saugatuck and its neighbor Douglas straddle the river and for more than a century people have found creative ways to navigate the waterway.

One of the most popular is a hand-cranked chain ferry. Believed to be the last of its kind in the country, the ferry “Diane” has operated on and off since 1857 and is arguably the most ecofriendly way to move a couple dozen beachgoers across the river to Saugatuck’s famed Oval Beach on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Click here to read the full article
Source: Michigan Gov

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

Africa leads the way in terms of the average potential of solar energy around the world, finds Statista.

Figures from the Global Solar Atlas for The World Bank, as analyzed by Statista, reveal the average potential of solar energy around the world and as this infographic shows, Africa is out in front. When combining the average long-term practical yield of a utility scale solar energy installation in each country, Africa’s 4.51 kWh/kWp/day is ahead of second-placed Central & South America’s 4.48, while North America is further behind on 4.37.

The assessments “exclude areas due to physical/technical constraints, such as rugged terrain, presence of urbanized/industrial areas, forests, and areas that are too distant from the centers of human activity”, but do not consider “soft constraints, i.e., areas that might be unsuitable due to regulations imposed by national or regional authorities (such as conservation of cropland or nature conservation)”.

Click here to read the full article
Source: World Economic Forum

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

Recovered silver, polysilicon, copper, and aluminum from re-hashed panels can fetch the most cash on the recycling market.

In the coming years, recyclers will hopefully be able to mine billions of dollars worth of materials from discarded solar panels, according to a new analysis published this week. That should ease bottlenecks in the supply chain for solar panels while also making the panels themselves more sustainable.

Right now, most dead solar panels in the US just get shredded or chucked into a landfill. The economics just don’t shake out in recycling’s favor. The value you can squeeze out of a salvaged panel hasn’t been enough to make up for the cost of transporting and recycling it. That’s on track to change, according to the recent analysis by research firm Rystad Energy.

Click here to read the full article
Source: The Verge

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

Last April, sustainable wind and solar energy sources produced 17.96 percent more electricity than nuclear power plants for the first time

In April of this year sustainable wind and solar energy sources produced 17.96 percent more electricity than nuclear power plants, the first time the former have overtaken the latter in U.S. history.

This surge in wind and solar-generated electricity meant that clean energy, which also includes geothermal, hydroelectric and biomass energy, comprised nearly 30 percent of the total electricity in the whole U.S., according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data. In 2021, clean energy only made up around 20 percent of the total electricity across the country.

Click here to read the full article
Source: Newsweek

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.